The Cleveland Cavaliers clawed their way back to .500 with a pair of wins this week, but that hasn’t quieted the critics. The skeptics that have come out in full force following their slow start because this isn’t what anybody had in mind when LeBron James made his decision to return to his home state – especially with Kevin Love, Shawn Marion, and Mike Miller joining him.
Factor in the presence of Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, Dion Waiters, and Tristan Thompson, and it’s clear this team is too talented to be hovering around the .500 mark.
So what exactly is going wrong in Cleveland?
The Cavaliers Lead The NBA In Mid-Range Shots Taken
The Cavaliers mid-range field goal percentage is at 41-percent, which is above the league average. The problem is that mid-range shots are extremely inefficient in comparison to shots at the rim and shots from the corner, and Cleveland also leads the NBA in mid-range shots taken.
The fact that they aren’t taking the basketball to the rim or shooting those corner three-balls that are much more efficient, has hurt their offensive ability. LeBron has admitted on his own that he is at fault.
James hasn’t taken the ball to the rim with the same reckless abandon that he had in past years. Until he and his teammates start doing a better job in terms of shooting efficiency, they will continue to struggle with efficiency at the offensive end of the floor.
The Cavaliers Rank 24th In Rebounds Per Game
One of the major concerns when the Cavaliers traded for Love was the fact that he wasn’t a top defensive player and tended to drift away from the rim at times, which led to lower rebounding totals.
That has certainly been the case again this year, although Love still leads Cleveland with an average of 9.4 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers, as a team, have averaged just 40.9 boards per game with no player other than Love averaging more than seven per game. LeBron, Varejao, and Tristan Thompson have all contributed on the glass but it could be Love’s presence that is the biggest factor in the team’s rebounding struggles as he is more of a liability than an asset in that regard.
The Cavaliers Rank 17th In Defensive Efficiency
Another part of the problem is that this team has been very mediocre defensively as they rank 17th in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
That number might not seem too bad on the surface, but when you consider that they have regressed in that area, despite playing in the Eastern Conference, and that Detroit, Sacramento, and Brooklyn have all been better, it makes it clear that there is a problem.
With so many new pieces, it might take a little more time for the defense to come together but, since they have trended in the opposite direction, it’s unclear whether they will get better. Effort has been something that the media and fans have criticized, and they have had plenty of examples to call the Cavaliers players out on.
